Come Hell or High Water
by BadToTheBonee
Summary: "Do you hate me?" he asked, eyes never moving from the window. My answer came without hesitation "yes."


"BRING THEM TO ME!" the voice of Kylo Ren echoed through the ship. Troopers scrambled out of his way as he destroyed the walls, doors, equipment, control panels, anything he happened to pass on his way out of the command room. you could hear the chaos from all the way across the ship, where I happened to be polishing the door of his cabin when he rounded the corner. seeing him i threw my cleaning supplies back into my cart and began to push it away when my entire body was lifted and crushed against the wall at the end of the hall. in the blink of an eye he had disappeared behind the door and i dropped from several feet in the air. my mop water along with several leaking chemical bottles from my cart flooded the hallway, drenching me. at least i had the rest of the week off.

the sanitation director gave me a sympathetic look, a good mark for the day and sent me off with my meal portion; a shrink-wrapped packet of green whatever-it-was which i tossed into a pile with the rest of my dinners from the past month.

I wasn't hungry for pig slop i guess. my mother would be so disappointed

'you're getting so skinny!' her Portuguese accent echoed in my mind like a warm embrace. "it's good for my health Mama," i replied to no one. maybe she missed me as much as i missed her. one could only hope.

i wrapped my arms around myself and leaned against the wall, breathing for a few minutes until i could will myself to get ready for a shower. every worker had three sets of clothes. my other two sets hadn't been washed this week but they were both still cleaner than the damp uniform i had been working in all day. they would have to do.

i brought my little clothes bundle and two portions of food with my toothbrush in my mouth and knocked on a door in the adjacent corridor of the ship.

"DN-2216! i need to borrow some toothpaste, mine is all gone!" when i received no reply i knocked a little louder. you know, in case he was asleep. "DN-2216! I HAVE SOME FOOD RATIONS TO TRADE FOR TOOTHPASTE!"

a Stormtrooper standard height man with blonde hair and bored green eyes opened the door, yawning. "you look like shit" he said.

"I haven't been in front of a mirror yet so I'll just agree with you" my toothbrush, which i had taken out of my mouth, slipped from my fingers.

DN-2216 cocked a brow, reaching to pick it up at the same time as me "what happened?"

"I had my first time with Kylo Ren today and let me tell you, he is not tender in the slightest,"

he choked on a laugh "let me get you what you came for and send you on your merry way."

i walked away with a tube of paste for teeth cleaning that wasn't even called toothpaste, a new toothbrush and one of DN-2216's sleeping shirts. Troopers were treated a bit better than workers so he had a small wardrobe and access to luxuries that i didn't have. he was always willing to share though, for the right price; i suppose he didn't want the person that cleaned his toilet and made his bed to be uncomfortable. to be honest, i was the winner in the end- the food here was awful.

in the restroom people half dressed in stormtrooper uniforms and half in loungewear walked past me, some frantically changing as they walked and some stopping to chat with me. i took the shower at the end of the row, quickly scrubbing off the day's grime and massaging all of the bruises from my encounter with Ren. thankfully the Troopers treated me and the rest of the working crew well-to be honest they probably pitied us-so i was able to take my time without being rushed.

i didn't bother to look in the mirror before i left. my mother would be looking back at me and i wasn't prepared to deal with that right now. "another time perhaps, Mama,"...

I was listening to- more like singing aloud obnoxiously- MGMT. Electric Feel. in bed. my ability to not grow up would be with me until my last breath apparently. and OF COURSE, the left speaker of my IPod wasn't working again. the battery of my cracked gen 3 was at 20%, meaning i only had so many minutes of emotion numbing nostalgia until my whole world was gone and i would be stuck with nothing but my thoughts. i only used it on my birthdays but today was worth the waste of power. today of all days, i was missing home. i fidgeted with the split ends of my damp hair after turning it off. clearly i would have to throw myself into space when it finally died.

*TAP* a knock at the steel door brought me from my thoughts. one knock. Armitage.

he always brought me good news; hungry for my attention as it were, i was the only one who gave him any.

i remember meeting him for the first time.

when the portal pulled me from my kitchen in Arizona a group of friends- Nate, Emily, Pedro- and i were having a Star Wars marathon in my childhood room. my mother had asked me to move back in after my father died and everyone had just left after celebrating my 22nd birthday. we were ten minutes into The Force Awakens when a bright light practically burned my eyeballs out of my skull and dropped me into a skirmish between the First Order and the Resistance. all i can say is it was a hell of a gift. when i came to i was being interrogated by Armitage Hux; stormtroopers at every angle. he had given the order to decapitate me and i told him his eyes were beautiful. the last pleasant thing i would ever see, regardless of the evil man they belonged to. i guess he changed his mind because i woke up in a room, this one, with a manual and clear instructions of my new duties. that was five years ago.

for the first few weeks he would shoot me glances of inner turmoil, and after i made a joke about redheads lacking souls he finally put up an effort to speak to me. since then we've built a casual and comfortable friendship. i can't imagine he's received many compliments in between being yelled at by Snoke and being beat up by Kylo Ren...

"Hux," I cooed gently upon seeing his bright red hair, my mood light "what will I be happy to hear this time?"

his tone was gleeful, but he remained professional as he briefed me on the day's events, finally coming to his last statement "We have captured several rebels and will commence interrogation at dawn,"

that was horrible, why did they need to interrogate anyone when we already knew the next prime directive? "that's... good." I reached one hand from under the blanket still wrapped around my shoulders and patted his lapel, lips pursed. to be honest I had no idea what to say.

his expression dropped. "you disapprove?"

i didn't hesitate "yes."

His eyes narrowed, and he grabbed my wrist "perhaps my company is due elsewhere." a sure ticket that the prisoners were his idea.

The blanket dropped as i pushed him away, i enjoyed Hux's company but i wouldn't tolerate aggression on his part. i wasn't a child and i wasn't a slave- not technically. "good, leave,"

he froze, not expecting my reply, and changed the subject. "perhaps i can make better living arrangements for you this evening," he offered, avoiding my hard stare.

i looked back at my room. it was plain with bare white walls with no closet and a twin mattress on a steel bedframe. this section of the ship was sanitary and organized but it was nothing i would call comfortable and it was cold as Jack Frost's nutsack in here. the command cabins were much nicer, with satin sheets and private bathrooms- i had been in Hux's room only once for cleaning but i could have stayed there forever. his interior was a rich red and slate grey. the bedding was red and made of a soft silk- i may have rolled around in it after scrubbing his bathroom sink- and the massive bedframe was carved with intricate Celtic knots. was he inviting me back? "you're not saying what i think you're saying are you?" my brow raised

"if i were?" he made eye contact, nose brushing mine.

i rested my forehead against his, my palm pressing against the curve of his jaw as we had both grown comfortable with contact "I'm not going to fuck you, Armitage."

a laugh rose from his chest, breaking the tension "of course not, Priya," he stepped back "get your things; it's time for a promotion."

We walked arm in arm, his cloak draped around and dragging behind me. my iPod nestled safely in my pocket along with my last Warhead. i decided not to bring my clothes since the droids would more than likely find me and return them anyways.

several troopers passed us along the way, never even turning their masks towards us. it was nothing they weren't used to as Hux and i had taken to chattering loudly through the halls about whatever random questions i happened to think up each day once my work was done. he seemed delighted to show me things i knew nothing about and acquainted me with every inch of the ship- even the cockpit. the Stormtroopers i saw regularly always stopped to see how my day was before carrying on. they were a personable bunch of people, considering the fact that they were all monsters. the only two aboard the ship my naivety hadnt charmed the pants off of were the stoic Captain Phasma and the infamous Kylo Ren.

it didn't take me long to realize there was a lot of tension on the ship. feelings of inadequacy and longing and anger, none of which were mine. i was happy to sit back and watch everyone fight their own internal battles. they wouldn't be taking me down with them.

we came to a door, the bright red frame i recognized as his cabin a few doors down. what were we doing here?

"wait here" he walked in, leaving me in the hall. i leaned against the wall across from the room he'd entered, fidgeting with the threads of his cloak. a moment later he invited me in.

the room was all black with a comfortable looking bed in the corner and a large leather chair with a low back. "whose room is this?"

"well it's yours now," he said

i kept inspecting the room "does this make me a Commander?"

Hux chuckled "it makes you an advisor."

he had to be kidding. my arms folded themselves across my chest "don't play games Armitage," i scolded "Snoke wouldn't approve. I'm not much of an advisor anyway..." i trailed off

"you won't be advising anyone," he put a hand on my shoulder "Think of it as a decorative title. my fondness of you does not affect my allegiance to the Supreme Leader or my ability to perform. and i would prefer you entertaining me as opposed to dusting hallways."

wow. my eyes kept wandering, mind unable to focus. Armitage told me everything, why didn't he say anything about this earlier on?

he straightened his cloak around me, noticing my unease. "you don't approve?"

I didn't hesitate. "when do I start?"


End file.
